A
road less traveled
by Susan Brinkmann
CS&T Correspondent
Imagine having to make a very long and difficult journey up the side of
a steep mountain, while carrying everything you own on your back. You're
alone and afraid, intimidated by the rocky incline above you.
Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you see a mountain climber moving
toward you with the agility of someone who is very familiar with this
terrain. You signal for help.
“Sure, I can help you,” the climber responds, “but you
better let me carry those bags for you. And you’ve got to follow
me like you really trust me.”
You agree and the climber takes the lead on what looks like the steepest
possible route, but the most direct way to the top. Remembering your promise,
you follow the climber exactly.
You’re shown exactly where to step, what handholds to grab. Although
it’s still the struggle of your life, because of your guide, you
get around all kinds of obstacles; sudden turns, thorny shrubs, steep
drop-offs, a sudden rock slide. Through it all, you never lose sight of
your guide who always manages to give you exactly the advice you need.
You and your bags arrive safely at the summit. When you look down, you
realize with a cold shudder that without the guide, you never would have
made it.
This little story is the perfect analogy to explain why people all over
the world are turning to the only sure way to climb safely out of this
world, and up the side of God’s holy mountain — the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
No one knows the path to God better than she does, and all it takes to
gain her assistance is a commitment to surrender ourselves completely
and put our trust in her. In exchange, she will lead us along the safest
and most direct route to her Son, protecting us from all kinds of perils
and deceptions. Even more important, she will personally carry our most
precious possessions — the spiritual merits and graces we earn during
life — ensuring that our human weakness will not cause us to lose
them before we arrive at the end of our journey.
This special route to holiness was outlined by St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716)
in his classic work entitled, “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
Mary.” It is based on the premise that because God chose to come
to us through Mary, it is only right that we should go to Him through
her.
For those who worry that this type of Marian devotion will somehow distract
them from Jesus Christ, St. Louis banishes the thought. “If we are
establishing sound devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only in order to
establish devotion to Our Lord more perfectly. . . . If devotion to Our
Lady distracted us from Our Lord, we would have to reject it as an illusion
of the devil.”
He gives a common sense explanation for why this devotion is the route
to take for those who wish to follow Christ more perfectly.
“As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated
to Jesus, it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions
is that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most completely to Jesus.
“Now, of all God’s creatures Mary is the most conformed to
Jesus. It therefore follows that of all devotions, devotion to her makes
for the most effective consecration and conformity to Him. The more one
is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.”
As St. Louis explains, giving ourselves entirely in this consecration
means that we give everything to Jesus by giving it all to Mary. This
includes 1) our body with its senses; 2) our soul with its faculties;
3) our present and future material possessions; 4) our interior and spiritual
possessions — that is, our merits, virtues and good actions of the
past, present and the future.
We make this gift to Jesus through Mary, to the best of our ability, during
a 33-day period of preparation for the consecration. The first 12 days
ask us to endeavor “to free ourselves from the spirit of the world”
through prayer, spiritual reading and various spiritual exercises. The
next three weeks are spent acquiring a deeper knowledge of self, Mary,
and Jesus.
The day of the actual consecration is usually planned to fall on a major
Marian feast day, such as the Immaculate Conception, or the Assumption.
From then on, the consecration is renewed annually on the same day.
This method of consecration is very much like a renewal of our baptismal
promises, only without the use of a proxy. “We renounce the devil,
the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration and we
give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary,” St. Louis writes.
And just like our baptismal day, most people mark the occasion of their
consecration in a special way each year. Like the hiker who advanced only
by following where his guide led, every year the persevering soul will
notice new progress made in his spiritual life as a result of following
where Our Lady has led him.
He can also expect many special favors in return, St. Louis says. “The
Blessed Virgin, mother of gentleness and mercy, never allows herself to
be surpassed in love and generosity . . . For an egg . . . she gives an
ox. . . . . Just as one who is consecrated belongs entirely to Mary, so
Mary belongs entirely to him.”
Some of these favors are truly remarkable.
“She arranges things in advance so as to divert evils from her servants
and put them in the way of abundant blessings,” St. Louis writes.
“She shows them the path to eternal life and helps them avoid dangerous
pitfalls. She leads them by the hand along the path of holiness, steadies
them when they are liable to stumble and helps them rise when they have
fallen.”
Mary will defend them against their enemies, especially the devil. “There
is no danger of a true child of Mary being led astray by the devil and
falling into heresy. Where Mary leads, Satan with his deceptions and his
heretics with their subtleties are not encountered.”
In addition to interceding for us before God, when we give her all of
our possessions, including our spiritual treasures such as earned merits
and graces, we give them to the only person who can keep them safe.
“It is difficult to persevere in holiness because of the excessive
corrupting influence of the world,” St. Louis writes. “The
world is so corrupt that it seems almost inevitable that religious hearts
be soiled. …It is something of a miracle for anyone to stand firm
in the midst of this raging torrent and not be swept away….”
By giving all to Mary, however, we are assured that she will protect our
treasure “as if it were her own possession.”
This is why some of the greatest saints have chosen this route to Jesus
through Mary. As St. Bernard said so eloquently: “When Mary supports
you, you will not fall. With her as your protector, you will have nothing
to fear. With her as your guide you will not grow weary. When you win
her favor, you will reach the port of heaven.”
Because of the total commitment required, not everyone will choose to
take this route to Jesus. The price may seem too high to some, but the
payback is priceless. It may be a road less traveled, but it’s one
of the few that leads straight to paradise.
For a free de Montfort Total Consecration package, visit www.ourlady33.com,
write to Friends of Our Lady Apostolate, 1748 Heather Lane, Frederick,
Md. 21702, or call 610-853-9801. Be sure to provide your name and postal
mailing address.
Contact Susan Brinkmann at fiat723@aol.com or (215) 965-4615.